I think about how my parents' knowledge of dentists pre-internet was "oh I saw a sign for a dentist on the way to work". I don't know how I can ever know if they were competent or not. I got braces and headgear, really serious orthodontics, and that's my baseline knowledge of dentists now? I went to a few appointments as an adult but have generally avoided problems and thus avoided them generally.

I did rediscover the eye doctor recently, and the tech and overall experience is much better than when I was a teen.